JAKARTA (AFP) - Badminton's world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen triumphed in straight games over underdog Zhao Junpeng of China on Sunday (June 19), clinching the Indonesia Open championship for the second consecutive year.
The Danish ace took the first set at Jakarta's Istora Senayan arena on the back of superb defence against his left-handed opponent's heavy pressure.
Zhao's aggressive approach would ultimately cost him, leading to several errors in the second game as Axelsen took the title with scores of 21-9 and 21-10.
The Olympic champion came into the match having won the Indonesia Masters 2022 just last week.
The back-to-back tournaments were highly anticipated by badminton fans after almost three years without live audiences in the Indonesian capital due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Today, I just tried to come in there and use my experience. I tried to control the drifts the best way I could. I tried to play at a high pace and it really paid off," he told journalists after the match.
The women's singles final, meanwhile, ended with second-ranked Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei securing victory over China's unseeded Wang Zhiyi 21-23, 21-6, 21-15.
"Wang played with very good ball control. I put the burden on myself because of my own mistakes," she said via an interpreter after the match.
But after dropping the first set, Tai, playing on the eve of her 28th birthday, quickly bounced back in the second and dominated the rest of the way.
"I'm very happy that a lot of people cheered me on, as it became my motivation during the match today," she said.
In the other title deciders, China's Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi won the men's doubles after defeating South Koreans Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho 21-17, 23-21.
Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida retained their women's doubles crown after coming back from a game down to beat compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 18-21, 21-14, 21-17.
China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the mixed doubles after seeing off Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-14, 21-16.
